Nikos Kazantzakis

I fight to embrace the entire circle of human activity to the full extent of my ability.

Every word is an adamantine shell which encloses a great explosive force. To discover its meaning you must let it burst inside you like a bomb and in this way liberate the soul which it imprisons.

Behind each woman rises the austere, sacred and mysterious face of Aphrodite.

There is only one woman in the world. One woman, with many faces.

A person needs a little madness, or else they never dare cut the rope and be free.

God hates a half-devil ten times more than an arch-devil!

You can knock on a deaf mans door forever.

I said to the almond tree, 'Friend, speak to me of God,' and the almond tree blossomed.

A weak soul does not have the endurance to resist the flesh for very long. It grows heavy, becomes flesh itself, and the contest ends. But among responsible men, men who keep their eyes riveted day and night upon the Supreme Duty, the conflict between flesh and spirit breaks out mercilessly and may last until death.

True teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross then having facilitated their crossing joyfully collapse encouraging them to create their own.

Beauty is merciless. You do not look at it, it looks at you and does not forgive.

The human soul is heavy clumsy held in the mud of the flesh. Its perceptions are still coarse and brutish. It can divine nothing clearly nothing with certainty.

Every perfect traveler always creates the country where he travels.

All my life, I struggled to stretch my mind to the breaking point, until it began to creak, in order to create a great thought which might be able to give a new meaning to life, a new meaning to death, and to console mankind.

The masses do not see the Sirens. They do not hear songs in the air. Blind, deaf, stooping, they pull at their oars in the hold of the earth. But the more select, the captains, harken to a Siren within them... and royally squander their lives with her.

The only thing I know is this I am full of wounds and still standing on my feet.

I said to the almond tree, "Friend, speak to me of God," and the almond tree blossomed.

In order to succeed we must first believe that we can.

I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.

The human soul is heavy, clumsy, held in the mud of the flesh. Its perceptions are still coarse and brutish. It can divine nothing clearly, nothing with certainty.

One of man's greatest obligations is anger.

I expect nothing. I fear no one. I am free.

Since we cannot change reality let us change the eyes which see reality.

Happiness is a simple everyday miracle, like water, and we are not aware of it.

A person needs a little madness or else they never dare cut the rope and be free.

In religions which have lost their creative spark the gods eventually become no more than poetic motifs or ornaments for decorating human solitude and walls.

The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness.

I knew that no matter what door you knock on in a Cretan village, it will be opened for you. A meal will be served in your honor, and you will sleep between the best sheets in the house. In Crete, the stranger is still the unknown god. Before him, all doors and all hearts are opened.

My entire soul is a cry, and all my work is a commentary on that cry.

Let your youth have free reign. It won't come again, so be bold, and no repenting.

There is no harsher means of punishment than to answer malice with kindness.

By believing passionately in something that still does not exist we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired.

Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality.

We come from a dark abyss, we end in a dark abyss, and we call the luminous interval life.

My principal anguish, and the wellspring of all my joys and sorrows, has been the incessant merciless battle between the spirit and the flesh.

In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can.

Everything in this world has a hidden meaning.

Be always restless, unsatisfied, unconforming. Whenever a habit becomes convenient, smash it! The greatest sin of all is satisfaction.

May God forgive me, but the letters of the alphabet frighten me terribly. They are sly, shameless demons - and dangerous! You open the inkwell, release them; they run off - and how will you ever get control of them again!

True teachers use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross; then, having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own.

Ideal teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross, then having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own.

Life is trouble. Only death is not. To be alive is to unfasten your belt and look for a fight.